Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Horrors From Beyond
Summary: A series of twisted and terrifying events pulls heroes, enemies, and strangers into a strange loop of suspence as they all seek to find the mastermind behind the events. Some will find what they seek, others will only find terror.
1. What Is Fear?

Please, good readers

((Please, good readers. Accept my apologies for not posting anything in the past two years. I have been distracted by life and all its frailties. Accept the offering of a redux, a redeemed story feature more than just three animes and perhaps more than one original character of mine.))

((I hope you enjoy a story, a journey, through the horrible minds of out friends, enemies, and allies.))

((I don't own the animes in this story, I only write about them. Have fun.))

**Something Wicked This Way Comes**

_Chapter One: What is Fear?_

Footsteps, all I hear are footsteps. They echo, they haunt. They torment, they torture. Footsteps into a past that I remember not, footsteps into a future that I wish not to foresee. Or am I dreaming. It matters not; the chains of my mind don't let me travel beyond these images that I see. How long have I watched, how long have I viewed these scenes. How many years, days, months? All this time and I feel no more happiness, no more joy. It has stolen my hope, it has taken my dreams. It has shattered my mind, shattered my sanity. Now all I see is one scene, one nightmare, one horror. My time is short, the chains grow tight. I can feel the dream coming; I can taste my own fear. I can hear it returning; I can hear it laughing. My god, release me of this torture. Make this night, day, afternoon, or evening my last….

-What do ye fear…-

Save me…..

"Bearing point one, one, five, two. Destination fixed, commencing ascent to atmospheric orbit." The computer of a blasted bucket of junk drones off in the background as a lone figure sleeps in the captain's chair. It has been a long journey; plagued by dreams of their last world the crew has slept little. Least of all their captain, the one now snoring lazily as if nothing had ever happened. What lies within the mind of this cold hearted fiend? What lies inside the mind of this scarred warrior that now leads a band of moronic saviors across the universe, a band that saves planet after planet from evil? One may never, but one may indeed find out.

The drone of the computer carries on as the snores escalate and die in between the silent dreams of this sleeping berserker. Dreams of home float through his mind, dreams of family –if that exists for him-, and dreams of adventures. Clouds float past him as he rides through clear skies upon a hidden mount. He could look down, but what if he fell? He would not think about it, for the moment, he will only think about what passes through his mind in this dream. Is it a dream? How does he know? Perhaps, because he remembers the ship he captains. Perhaps, because he remembers the crew he leads. Still the warrior troubles not his dreams with these thoughts; he does not want to awake to whatever dreadful pleasantries await him in the waking world.

Still he dreams, floating anomalies pass by in silent flight. Swans with no eyes, islands with tendrils of colours that search for unknown treasures below, and a white mask with no eyes. Wait, the mask does not simply pass him by. It lingers, it watches, it waits. The eyeless anomaly watches him, a sense of curiosity and innocence comes off of the strange thing. What does it want? That's what the warrior is thinking at this moment in time, why does it look at him so. Then it comes, a voice that sounds sweet like sugar and yet holds a hint of bitterness only known in those who have lied chronically. The voice is not spoken, instead words are formed within the dreamers mind, and the emotions come with them.

_What is fear?_

The warrior stays quiet, some part of him tells him it is all a dream. There is no talking mask; there is no need to answer this trivial being. The bitterness and sweetness of the words nag at his mind though, they taunt his thoughts and play with the images in his dreaming state.

_What is fear?_

Again the words come, silent yet loud; only in a dream this is possible. Will he respond? Or will he stay silent until the mask passes by him in silent flight? It seems the voice in his mind is silent, he should answer it. He does answer it, in the form of spoken words, if one can truly speak within a dream, "Fear is a mind killer."

_Fear, mind killer._

It is like talking to a small child, he realizes, one that does not know more words than a simple vocabulary of words. He responds in kind, simple words so as not to confuse the illusion of this dream, "Yes. It kills the senses, the heart." The warrior waits, if the mask passes him by perhaps he shall awake and dismiss this as sleep deprivation and hallucinations of his mind. The mask does not seem to think the same.

_What… do ye fear?_

This is a question that could be asked by anyone. But this also sends the mental guards of the warrior shivering. "I fear nothing." The warrior speaks plainly and forcefully, he does not wish this pleasant state to turn into something that will disturb his sleep. "Nothing can kill my mind."

_What do ye fear?_

The words come more forcefully this time, it seems to surprise the warrior, or take him by surprise. "I. Fear. Nothing." He stresses this thought so much so that it causes his mind to loose hold of his floating self. Feeling himself become unbalanced upon his invisible steed the warrior reaches down for a handhold and feels a familiar and somewhat hair raising sensation at his finger tips. In shock his hands let go and he begins to fall, his eyes moving downwards and growing increasingly large as he gazes upon a tattered and hard surface of red scales.

His eyes widen, a sensation not often felt runs down his spines and through his legs as they let go of the ridged spine and red scales. The length of this mount begins to fluctuate and move as he falls further towards the useable bottom of this dreamscape. The warrior looks around as the shivers climb back up his body and into his arms rippling his flesh like still water disturbed by a tossed stone. His eyes climb back to the white mask, he notices a change. There are two black holes where the eyes should have been, two dark pits that lead into a void. He finds it hard to pull his gaze away, the holes seem to draw him inwards. But the feel of the scaled back leaving his grip pulls him away with a yell from his throat, "I FEAR NOTHING!"

Something touches his shoulder and jolts the warrior awake; a hand immediately reaches for the sword at his side. But a voice, familiar in tone and softness reaches his ears, "Whoa, dude. No need to worry. Your good… just a bad dream I guess." The hand releases the captain's shoulder and footsteps echo away from him towards the co-pilot seat a couple feet to the right of the captain's chair.

"I was not having a bad dream, maggot." The warrior rubs the palm of his right hand across his forehead. He had been sweating, damnit he did not have nightmares. He fears nothing.

"Settle down, tough guy." The other man in the cockpit laughs, his voice crisp and young. Yet to be broken by his battle hardened captain. "I woke you up for a reason though, were in low orbit over our destination. The ship is just taking scans of the civilization right now." Shifting behind the captain, the young adventurer takes his station and starts keying away at a console nearby.

Sighing heavily, and grunting a response, the warrior looks to his right at a computer screen that shows the data flowing in. "Do we know what we're after?" he doesn't add an insult, mayhap because of the dream or the fact that he will add it later. When silence follows he yells backwards, "Answer me, maggot!"

"Pushy as always, we don't know. Command got a random tip of some strange activity and paranormal readings. All we are required to do is investigate." The co-pilot sits back in his seat, the yellow flashing lights that indicate Low-Orbit Mode glancing off of his fair features and blue hair. "Other than that, we need to be careful. It may be dangerous down there…"


	2. A Bad Dream

Something Wicked This Way Comes

**Something Wicked This Way Comes**

Chapter Two: A Bad Dream 

"What's the problem, my dear? Are you scared?" he doesn't know what to say in response. Why does this always happen, why always this bastard? Is this real? Did this monster actually get past his friend and take him by force? Such questions go unanswered as he stares into the glasses of a fiend more evil than the devil himself. Those wicked spectacles glint in the soft light of the cruise liner's cabin, that smile sends his stomach tumbling over and over again. Then the glint in those eyes comes through the glare of the lights, that slit that has replaced the bastard's pupils opens and closes as if this monster's eyes breathe in the shear terror that emanates from his mind. "Maybe, we should relieve you of some stress."

My god, those sharp nailed hands of the evil bastard travel down his front, slowly unbuttoning his dress shirt, he sure as hell did not sign up for this shit. In an impulse move, he throws himself forward into the grinning face of evil and feels an impact between his forehead and the other. The sound of crushing plastic and glass resounds through the air as the bastards head snaps back violently, his spectacles falling in tattered remains to the floor. He thinks he's won; he starts to grin as red blood wells up and drips from the monster's nose. How wrong he is, as a wicked laugh starts to emanate from the bastards throat. Slowly the other looks back into the eyes of Tsuzuki, his evil flashing with a frightening glare into the man's eyes.

"Foolish child, do you really think that hurt me?" The laugh gets sharper, shriller, madder. Slowly the madman's face begins to morph; a white mask appears upon his blood covered features. His nose, mouth, and other surfaces are swallowed by a blanket of white and black. Two void like eye-holes replace those vile serpent slit pupils, the madman laughs louder and louder, until all Tsuzuki can hear are the words beneath the cackle. Words that send images of terror through his mind.

_What do ye fear?_

"Tsuzuki, wake up!" A hand smacks him across the face violently, but not hard enough to break his skin. He groans at the hit and tries to roll over, finding only wall to look at.

"Ow…" He grumbles as crustiness falls away from his eyelids, "What was that for? Don't you know how to wake someone up normally?"

Hisoka, Tsuzuki's partner in crime, looks with a scolding glare at Tsuzuki. "If you had awoken the first time I had yelled, then you wouldn't have a bruised face, now would ya?" The young boy backs up and turns, he then talks to someone out of Tsuzuki's sight range. "Sorry bout that, he gets a bit narcoleptic when he drinks."

Before he can look to who Hisoka speaks to a crisp, malicious voice pierces the air making Tsuzuki sit bolt upright in his chair. "If I win this, he will learn not to do such things…. Tonight. Or unpleasantness may befall his precious body." He turns with a look of abject terror to look at the man sitting at the opposite end of the poker table. A moment of silence follows as the cruise ship rocks gently back and forth upon the waves of the sea. "You wouldn't want youre… Soul Mate to be hurt, would you?"

Before he can talk Hisoka looks to the madman called Muraki, "Do we have a deal? I win and you tell us what you know of the poison on this boat. If you win, you get Tsuzuki. For the night."

Muraki grins like an idiot at this offer, "You have a--" He is interrupted as some woman screams from above deck and the boat pitches violently to one side. Muraki looses his hold to the table as the ship rocks violently, his eyes changing into an almost insane anger look. "What have you planned?! You will not take me from my toy!"

Hisoka catches Tsuzuki as the boat pitches to the side and glares at the madman, "We have nothing to do with this!" A roar of instantaneous fire comes from above and an explosion rocks the deck. And throws all three to the ground, the horrendous sound of wood and metal tearing is the only clue to them as to what is happening to the ship. There seems nothing that they can do to find out what is going on until the wall opposite where Muraki had sat begins to tear away from its bindings.

Hisoka hauls the frightened Tsuzuki away from the poker table, but leaves Muraki to fend for himself. The boy has no time to say anything before sparks of severed electrical lines and shards of glass sprinkle the three men. Hisoka looks up and is greeted by a sight he had never seen before in his life. A great black portal swallows up the remains of the ship, sucking them into the darkness of its depths. Desperately Hisoka tries to pulls Tsuzuki away from the great black hole as his partners foot is snagged by the madman Muraki as he is getting sucked into the great black void of the hole.

Grunting with the added weight Hisoka cannot hold on for long, sweet beads and is torn off his head as the hole takes them into its folds. He can't hang on any longer and starts slipping across the torn deck and towards the black vortex. Before Hisoka leaves the wood of the deck he blacks out, or his eyes are enfolded with darkness. Whatever happened he looks about desperately before spotting something.

What he spots sends shivers down his spine and forces him to close his eyes, but he stills sees the image. It enlarges and envelopes him, sending Hisoka into a rage of fear, he screams for mercy as he imagines the night when all his fears began. A voice mutters in the background as the figure that assaults him wears a pure white mask with no facial features or expression, "What do ye fear…." The voice fades off into the darkness as the great black hole swallows the remains of the ship into a void. All goes dark for the trio as their minds are swallowed as well.

((Hope your enjoying the show, I promise not to keep you in suspense for two years again.))


	3. Technical Malfunctions

Something Wicked This Way Comes

**Something Wicked This Way Comes**

Chapter Three: Technical Malfunctions

"Bearing one, one, five, eight. Current location: 500,000 feet above surface. Rotation speed: 40 degrees per second." The computer drones on, outplaying the constant sound of the co-pilot's voice in the captain's head. Even if the updates come every ten minutes in the small space craft, they are still more distracting than a report upon the advances of a civilization far below. Still, the warrior cannot help but look at his friend and listen to the drone of his high-spirited yet cautious voice. It takes thought process away from the recent… nightmare.

The blue haired swordsman looks at the specs upon the screen in front of him. Some of the data before his eyes seems to confuse his thoughts a bit, but as he flips further through the pages of data, things become clearer and clearer. "Ok… Looks like the planet below us is largely undeveloped except for scant villages and a few larger cities, there also seems to be five main countries with smaller nations dotting the main continent around them." He slides one window of information to the side while looking for more specific details. "It seems that this planet is in a strange version of the human Industrial Era. They have trains, but no automobiles.

"Auto… what? Make more sense, maggot." The captain growls under his breath knowing full well the other man heard him.

A look of disdain is thrown back at the warrior as the co-pilot looks back to the page, "Carriages that run on liquid fuel. Coming from such a past riddled world, your small brain is expected to be confused by such science."

In a motion faster than the naked eye can follow, a hand goes to the hilt of his blade, "Don't jest at me right now, maggot. Lest I cut you from throat to groin." The captain looks at his co-pilot with all seriousness; it seems he is still very much troubled by the recent dream.

Flinching back a bit the blue haired swordsman raises a hand, "Just friend prods at your ego, mate. Chill. Take a nap or something…--" He is about to continue when something on the screen takes his attention and his look of mercy goes to seriousness. "Looks like we have an event taking place…" The screen before him shows a point before him where a black dot begins blinking. "It looks like…. Albel, we have a serious problem."

The captain looks up at this, his name spoken means something is wrong. "What is…" Just before he can finish the sentence though a rough blast echoes throughout the corridors of the ship as it rocks violently from the concussive boom, several pieces of debris fly past the main viewing screen as the captain turns about to face the monitor at the front of the cockpit. "By the Dragon's Breath…"

A sight never seen before by both of their eyes greats the captain and the co-pilot as they look towards what appears to be the large appendage of something from off the screen attaches itself to the port side of the space ship. As they watch, without a chance to cry out, the large appendage rips itself off of the hull and disappears into what appears to be a black mist that soon dissipates from their sight. When it leaves the ship begins to topple end over end towards the planet as the ships internal systems start to overload and loose power.

"What the hell happened? Tell me now, Maggot! Before we die!" The captain whirls about with a wild stare direct right at his co-pilot.

Fingers smashing the controls uselessly the blue haired swordsman looks up, "I don't know! There seems to be some kind of technical malfunction in the system! I can't get a response from anything…" His voice trails off then as his eyes lock onto the screen before him. He seems to mouth words, but nothing comes out and with the violent motions of the ships rotation and fall, the captain can't read what he's saying. With seconds left before the ship hits the atmosphere of the planet the captain lunges himself overtop of the command chair and straight at his friend who is now frozen in place, a look of sheer terror pasted onto his face. Not a second to loose the captain tries to make it to his co-pilot, to snap him out of the stupor he has fallen into and right the ships trajectory, but all does not go as planned as a voice seems to echo through the warriors mind in the milliseconds before atmospheric impact.

_What. Do. Ye. Fear!_

The ship suddenly lurches to one side as they hit the atmosphere of the planet and Albel is thrown from his unstable position. Words are in his throat, words of anger, words of hate, words of fear. They never reach the surface as all goes black with a sudden and hard impact against his skull knocks him out cold, but as his body is tossed like a rag doll through the tumbling ship one word makes it to his now silent lips. _Dragons_.


End file.
